Throughout the winter of 1936, a young Cambridge don put the finishing touches on a highly technical paper about mathematical logic that he didn't expect more than a dozen people around the world to understand. It was an unusual presentation, not entirely orthodox by the rather rigid standards of his colleagues. The young man wasn't entirely orthodox, himself. Although his speech revealed his upper-middle class origins, his manner of dress, his erratic grooming, and his grating voice put off most of his peers. An outsider to the loftier academic-social circles of the university, he had few friends, preferring to spend his time at mathematics, chemistry experiments, chess puzzles, and long runs in the countryside.